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伪善 (wěi shàn) — hypocritical

Definition

Describes a person or behavior that pretends to be virtuous (kind, moral, generous) but is not — 'hypocritical'. Often used to label actions or appearances, as in 伪善的行为 or 伪善的外表.

adjective
hypocritical

Examples

  • ，伪善。
    Tā kàn qǐ lái shàn liáng, qí shí hěn wěi shàn.
    He looks kind, but is actually very hypocritical.
  • 伪善。
    Tā de wěi shàn xíng wéi ràng dà jiā hěn shī wàng.
    His hypocritical behavior disappointed everyone.
  • 伪善。
    Bú yào bèi wěi shàn de wài biǎo qī piàn.
    Don't be fooled by a hypocritical appearance.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

伪wěifake
善shàngood

伪 (“fake”) and 善 (“good”) suggest pretending to be good.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 偽; 伪 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
為
為wéi偽wěi
Same sound today

The modern 伪 comes from the traditional form 偽, where 亻 (man) marks the idea as about a person and 為 gives the sound and means “to make”; together they originally meant “artificial”.

Open 伪 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

An earlier form of 善 joined 羊, a sheep linked with goodness or beauty, and 誩, described as a wrangle; the reference says this meaning link is hard to understand.

Open 善 →
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Personality & Traits

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